On Monday, workers will be back at their desks, but maybe not working as online retailers will be taking their attention away from their jobs, with holiday shopping deals.

When did Cyber Monday start?

The National Retail Federation (NRF) came up with the term Cyber Monday long after online shopping started. Amazon was launched in 1994, eBay the next year and Walmart launched its website in 2000, NBC News reported.

The NRF noticed over a few years that on the Monday after Thanksgiving, online buying spiked. It declared the day Cyber Monday in a news release in 2005, with media outlets and stores adopting the term.

“With the growth of online shopping, online-only players like Amazon were looking for a way to capitalize on Thanksgiving weekend sales,” Katherine Cullen, an NRV vice president, said. “The Monday after Thanksgiving became dedicated to online sales, differentiating it from Black Friday.”

It became the most profitable day for online shopping every year, but now instead of one day, Cyber Monday deals last days, even weeks over the holiday season.

Adobe predicts that this year, there will be $13.2 billion spent on Cyber Monday.

What are the deals?

It may be better to ask what doesn’t have a deal.

Nearly every media outlet has some sort of “best buys” for Cyber Monday and the related online sales.

Target has “50% off thousands of items.” Competitor Walmart’s deals have been posted on BlackFriday.com. Amazon has a site already set up of the Best Cyber Monday deals that start on Saturday.

National Geographic compiled a list of “19 of the best Cyber Monday Travel and adventure deals.”

Even Broadway and Madison Square Garden have gotten in on the Cyber Monday trend.

How to spot a scam?

As people look for deals, scammers are looking for people to scam. So how can you spot a scam?

UPI reported that scammers are using fake websites, SEO poisoning and phishing to try to get your information or money.

Fake sites look like the real thing but they’re not. They gather information from credit cards to log in credentials to separate you from your cash. AI and quishing, or using malicious QR codes, are able to get around email filters.

How can you protect yourself? Cyber security firm, Check Point Software Solutions gave UPI the following tips:

• Look at URLS for misspellings or odd domains.
• Make sure a site starts with “https://” and has a padlock.
• Check an email’s sender against verified emails. Don’t click if you’re not 100% sure.
• Don’t blindly click on QR codes.
• Don’t give unnecessary information such as a Social Security number or birthday if it wouldn’t be needed under normal circumstances.

WSET spoke with the Better Business Bureau in Southwest Virginia which added:

• Don’t click on a social media popup
• Use a credit card instead of debit.
• Look for red flags such as longer than normal shipping, buy one get one free deals or having to pay through a payment app.
• Check a website on the BBB.

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